Donal A. Kerr
- Published in print:
- 1998
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198207375
- eISBN:
- 9780191677649
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198207375.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Modern History
This is the first full account of the role of the Irish Catholic Church in the Great Famine of 1846 and its aftermath. The author shows how the Famine and the subsequent evictions led to rural ...
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This is the first full account of the role of the Irish Catholic Church in the Great Famine of 1846 and its aftermath. The author shows how the Famine and the subsequent evictions led to rural violence and a spate of assassinations culminating in the murder of Major Mahon, which the local parish priest was accused of inciting. Savage denunciations followed in press and parliament. In conjunction with the belief that Pope Pius IX had blessed the struggle of oppressed nationalities, many priests became involved in the run-up to the Young Ireland Rebellion. These years also saw a sharpening of religious tension as Protestant Evangelicals made an all-out effort to Protestantine Ireland. The author has charted how the Famine and the violence soured relations between the Church and State and ultimately destroyed Lord John Russell’s dream of bringing a golden age to Ireland.Less
This is the first full account of the role of the Irish Catholic Church in the Great Famine of 1846 and its aftermath. The author shows how the Famine and the subsequent evictions led to rural violence and a spate of assassinations culminating in the murder of Major Mahon, which the local parish priest was accused of inciting. Savage denunciations followed in press and parliament. In conjunction with the belief that Pope Pius IX had blessed the struggle of oppressed nationalities, many priests became involved in the run-up to the Young Ireland Rebellion. These years also saw a sharpening of religious tension as Protestant Evangelicals made an all-out effort to Protestantine Ireland. The author has charted how the Famine and the violence soured relations between the Church and State and ultimately destroyed Lord John Russell’s dream of bringing a golden age to Ireland.
Bernard Porter
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199299591
- eISBN:
- 9780191700927
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199299591.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Modern History
The British empire was a huge enterprise. To foreigners, it more or less defined Britain in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Its repercussions in the wider world are still with us today. It also ...
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The British empire was a huge enterprise. To foreigners, it more or less defined Britain in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Its repercussions in the wider world are still with us today. It also had a great impact on Britain herself: for example, on her economy, security, population, and eating habits. One might expect this to have been reflected in her society and culture. Indeed, this has now become the conventional wisdom: that Britain was steeped in imperialism domestically, which affected (or infected) almost everything Britons thought, felt, and did. This book examines this assumption critically against the broader background of contemporary British society. It argues that the empire had a far lower profile in Britain than it did abroad. Although Britain was an imperial nation in this period, she was never a genuine imperial society. As well as showing how this was possible, the book also discusses the implications of this attitude for Britain and her empire, and for the relationship between culture and imperialism more generally, bringing his study up to date by including the case of the present-day United States.Less
The British empire was a huge enterprise. To foreigners, it more or less defined Britain in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Its repercussions in the wider world are still with us today. It also had a great impact on Britain herself: for example, on her economy, security, population, and eating habits. One might expect this to have been reflected in her society and culture. Indeed, this has now become the conventional wisdom: that Britain was steeped in imperialism domestically, which affected (or infected) almost everything Britons thought, felt, and did. This book examines this assumption critically against the broader background of contemporary British society. It argues that the empire had a far lower profile in Britain than it did abroad. Although Britain was an imperial nation in this period, she was never a genuine imperial society. As well as showing how this was possible, the book also discusses the implications of this attitude for Britain and her empire, and for the relationship between culture and imperialism more generally, bringing his study up to date by including the case of the present-day United States.
Stuart Eagles
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- May 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199602414
- eISBN:
- 9780191725050
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199602414.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Modern History, History of Ideas
Ruskin often disparaged attempts to alleviate conditions in the cities, yet he financed the pioneering early housing experiments of Octavia Hill in London, and established a museum for working men in ...
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Ruskin often disparaged attempts to alleviate conditions in the cities, yet he financed the pioneering early housing experiments of Octavia Hill in London, and established a museum for working men in Sheffield. At the same time, he strove to promote the rural ideal and inspired the revival of some rural handicrafts. Both a self-proclaimed ‘violent Tory of the old school’ and a ‘communist’, the paradoxical John Ruskin, the leading Victorian art and social critic, inspired a younger generation with his political ideas and social experiments. A wide range of individuals, consciously indebted to him, engaged in social action designed to ameliorate the worst excesses of late nineteenth and early twentieth-century British industrial capitalism. Progressive political thinkers and social activists answered Ruskin's challenge to confront the ugliness and corruption of Victorian society, and to reject the hypocrisy of the utilitarian philosophy which underpinned it. This book is the first study to approach Ruskin's legacy in terms of the institutional and organisational contexts in which his ideas flourished. It recreates the associational culture of a network of influence which was united by a shared enthusiasm inspired by one man. The Guild of St. George embodied his social challenge, and provided a point of focus for his most loyal disciples. Many of the Oxford undergraduates inspired by his lectures, and his practical scheme to rebuild the road at Hinksey, helped to found and guide the university settlements. Ruskin societies emerged in the large cities to promote the study of his work and to effect civic reforms on Ruskinian lines. Many of the pioneers of the nascent Labour movement developed their political consciousnesses whilst reading his work. In the early life and career of John Howard Whitehouse, parliamentarian and educationist, these strands of influence combined, helping him to become Ruskin's truest disciple.Less
Ruskin often disparaged attempts to alleviate conditions in the cities, yet he financed the pioneering early housing experiments of Octavia Hill in London, and established a museum for working men in Sheffield. At the same time, he strove to promote the rural ideal and inspired the revival of some rural handicrafts. Both a self-proclaimed ‘violent Tory of the old school’ and a ‘communist’, the paradoxical John Ruskin, the leading Victorian art and social critic, inspired a younger generation with his political ideas and social experiments. A wide range of individuals, consciously indebted to him, engaged in social action designed to ameliorate the worst excesses of late nineteenth and early twentieth-century British industrial capitalism. Progressive political thinkers and social activists answered Ruskin's challenge to confront the ugliness and corruption of Victorian society, and to reject the hypocrisy of the utilitarian philosophy which underpinned it. This book is the first study to approach Ruskin's legacy in terms of the institutional and organisational contexts in which his ideas flourished. It recreates the associational culture of a network of influence which was united by a shared enthusiasm inspired by one man. The Guild of St. George embodied his social challenge, and provided a point of focus for his most loyal disciples. Many of the Oxford undergraduates inspired by his lectures, and his practical scheme to rebuild the road at Hinksey, helped to found and guide the university settlements. Ruskin societies emerged in the large cities to promote the study of his work and to effect civic reforms on Ruskinian lines. Many of the pioneers of the nascent Labour movement developed their political consciousnesses whilst reading his work. In the early life and career of John Howard Whitehouse, parliamentarian and educationist, these strands of influence combined, helping him to become Ruskin's truest disciple.
Virginia Berridge
- Published in print:
- 1996
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198204725
- eISBN:
- 9780191676376
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198204725.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Modern History
Fifteen years ago the AIDS ‘epidemic’ did not exist on the public agenda. In just over a decade the public and official response to the disease has resulted in the development of a whole network of ...
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Fifteen years ago the AIDS ‘epidemic’ did not exist on the public agenda. In just over a decade the public and official response to the disease has resulted in the development of a whole network of organizations devoted to the study, containment, and practical treatment of AIDS. In this analysis of AIDS policy, the book examines the speed and nature of the official (and unofficial) response to this new and critical historical event. The policy reaction in Britain passed through three stages. From 1981–6 the outbreak of a new contagious disease led to public alarm and social stigmatization, with a lack of scientific certainty about the nature of the disorder. This phase was succeeded in 1986–7 by a brief stage of quasi-wartime emergency, in which national politicians and senior civil servants intervened, and a high-level political response emerged. That response was a liberal one of ‘safe sex’ and harm minimization rather than draconian notification or isolation of carriers. The book demonstrates that despite the ‘Thatcher revolution’ in government in the 1980s, crisis could still stimulate a consensual response. The current period of ‘normalization’ of the disease sees panic levels subsiding as the rate of growth slows and the fear of the unknown recedes. Official institutions have been established and formal procedures adopted and reviewed; paid professionals have replaced the earlier volunteers. The 1990s have seen change in the liberal consensus towards a harsher response and the partial repoliticization of AIDS.Less
Fifteen years ago the AIDS ‘epidemic’ did not exist on the public agenda. In just over a decade the public and official response to the disease has resulted in the development of a whole network of organizations devoted to the study, containment, and practical treatment of AIDS. In this analysis of AIDS policy, the book examines the speed and nature of the official (and unofficial) response to this new and critical historical event. The policy reaction in Britain passed through three stages. From 1981–6 the outbreak of a new contagious disease led to public alarm and social stigmatization, with a lack of scientific certainty about the nature of the disorder. This phase was succeeded in 1986–7 by a brief stage of quasi-wartime emergency, in which national politicians and senior civil servants intervened, and a high-level political response emerged. That response was a liberal one of ‘safe sex’ and harm minimization rather than draconian notification or isolation of carriers. The book demonstrates that despite the ‘Thatcher revolution’ in government in the 1980s, crisis could still stimulate a consensual response. The current period of ‘normalization’ of the disease sees panic levels subsiding as the rate of growth slows and the fear of the unknown recedes. Official institutions have been established and formal procedures adopted and reviewed; paid professionals have replaced the earlier volunteers. The 1990s have seen change in the liberal consensus towards a harsher response and the partial repoliticization of AIDS.
Michael Clark
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- May 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199562343
- eISBN:
- 9780191721441
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199562343.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Modern History
Lionel de Rothschild's hard-fought entry into Parliament in 1858 marked the emancipation of Jews in Britain — the symbolic conclusion of Jews' campaign for equal rights and their inclusion as ...
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Lionel de Rothschild's hard-fought entry into Parliament in 1858 marked the emancipation of Jews in Britain — the symbolic conclusion of Jews' campaign for equal rights and their inclusion as citizens after centuries of discrimination. With this event, Jewish life entered a new phase: the post-emancipation era. This book explores the development of the Jewish community and its identity in Britain during this formative stage. Emancipation was ambiguous. British acceptance was not neutral but carried expectations, as well as opportunities. This book highlights how integrating into British society required changes to traditional Jewish identity, as it also widened conceptions of Britishness. Many Jews, it suggests, willingly embraced their environment and fashioned a unique Jewish existence: mixing in all levels of society; experiencing economic success; and organizing and translating its faith along Anglican grounds. But, unlike many other European Jewish experiences, Anglo-Jews stayed loyal to their faith. Conversion and outmarriage remained rare, and connections were maintained with foreign kin. The community was even willing at times to place its Jewish and English identity in conflict, as happened during the 1876-8 Eastern Crisis, which provoked the first episode of modern antisemitism in Britain. The nature of Jewish existence in Britain was unclear and developing in the post-emancipation era. Using original research and focusing upon three inter-linked case studies of Anglo-Jewry's political activity, internal government, and religious development, this book explores the dilemmas of identity and inter-faith relations that confronted the minority in late 19th-century Britain. It illuminates a crucial period in which the Anglo-Jewish community shaped the basis of its modern existence, whilst the British state explored the limits of its toleration.Less
Lionel de Rothschild's hard-fought entry into Parliament in 1858 marked the emancipation of Jews in Britain — the symbolic conclusion of Jews' campaign for equal rights and their inclusion as citizens after centuries of discrimination. With this event, Jewish life entered a new phase: the post-emancipation era. This book explores the development of the Jewish community and its identity in Britain during this formative stage. Emancipation was ambiguous. British acceptance was not neutral but carried expectations, as well as opportunities. This book highlights how integrating into British society required changes to traditional Jewish identity, as it also widened conceptions of Britishness. Many Jews, it suggests, willingly embraced their environment and fashioned a unique Jewish existence: mixing in all levels of society; experiencing economic success; and organizing and translating its faith along Anglican grounds. But, unlike many other European Jewish experiences, Anglo-Jews stayed loyal to their faith. Conversion and outmarriage remained rare, and connections were maintained with foreign kin. The community was even willing at times to place its Jewish and English identity in conflict, as happened during the 1876-8 Eastern Crisis, which provoked the first episode of modern antisemitism in Britain. The nature of Jewish existence in Britain was unclear and developing in the post-emancipation era. Using original research and focusing upon three inter-linked case studies of Anglo-Jewry's political activity, internal government, and religious development, this book explores the dilemmas of identity and inter-faith relations that confronted the minority in late 19th-century Britain. It illuminates a crucial period in which the Anglo-Jewish community shaped the basis of its modern existence, whilst the British state explored the limits of its toleration.
Timothy Alborn
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- September 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780190603519
- eISBN:
- 9780190603540
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780190603519.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Modern History, British and Irish Early Modern History
From the early eighteenth century into the 1830s, Great Britain was the only major country in the world to adopt gold as the sole basis of its currency, in the process absorbing much of the world’s ...
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From the early eighteenth century into the 1830s, Great Britain was the only major country in the world to adopt gold as the sole basis of its currency, in the process absorbing much of the world’s supply of that metal into its pockets, cupboards, and coffers. During the same period, Britons forged a nation by distilling a heady brew of Protestantism, commerce, and military might, while preserving important features of its older social hierarchy. All That Glittered argues for a close connection between these occurrences, by linking justifications for gold’s role in British society—starting in the 1750s and running through the mid-nineteenth century gold rushes in California and Australia—to contemporary descriptions of that metal’s varied values at home and abroad. Most of these accounts attributed British commercial and military success to a credit economy pinned on gold, stigmatized southern European and subaltern peoples for their nonmonetary uses of gold, or tried to marginalize people at home for similar forms of alleged misconduct. This book tells a primarily cultural origin story about the gold standard’s emergence after 1850 as an international monetary system, while providing a new window on British exceptionalism during the previous century.Less
From the early eighteenth century into the 1830s, Great Britain was the only major country in the world to adopt gold as the sole basis of its currency, in the process absorbing much of the world’s supply of that metal into its pockets, cupboards, and coffers. During the same period, Britons forged a nation by distilling a heady brew of Protestantism, commerce, and military might, while preserving important features of its older social hierarchy. All That Glittered argues for a close connection between these occurrences, by linking justifications for gold’s role in British society—starting in the 1750s and running through the mid-nineteenth century gold rushes in California and Australia—to contemporary descriptions of that metal’s varied values at home and abroad. Most of these accounts attributed British commercial and military success to a credit economy pinned on gold, stigmatized southern European and subaltern peoples for their nonmonetary uses of gold, or tried to marginalize people at home for similar forms of alleged misconduct. This book tells a primarily cultural origin story about the gold standard’s emergence after 1850 as an international monetary system, while providing a new window on British exceptionalism during the previous century.
Matthew Cragoe
- Published in print:
- 1996
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198205944
- eISBN:
- 9780191676864
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198205944.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Modern History
This book is a major reassessment of nineteenth-century Wales that challenges the widely-held Welsh historiography in which the contribution of the landed classes is marginalized in favour of the ...
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This book is a major reassessment of nineteenth-century Wales that challenges the widely-held Welsh historiography in which the contribution of the landed classes is marginalized in favour of the success of radical liberalism and nonconformity. This account of nineteenth-century Carmarthenshire emphasizes the social and political dominance of the Anglican landowning nobility and gentry for much of the period. The book explores the nature and public roles of a governing elite, arguing that their influence was not simply a function of their members' wealth or their control of local government and the administration of the law, but had a vital ideological dimension in the aristocracy's paternalistic ethic, which found powerful and practical expression in the ‘moral economy’ of the landed estate. The clear and vigorous narrative is underpinned by detailed analytical chapters on agriculture and rural society, the administration of law and local government, the evolving patterns of electoral politics, and the vicissitudes and advances of the Church. Frequent references to other Welsh counties and to England show how this local study has much wider interest and implications than its immediate setting. The book argues for a re-evaluation of the social, political, and cultural contributions of the Anglican aristocracy to the making of a Welsh identity in the nineteenth century.Less
This book is a major reassessment of nineteenth-century Wales that challenges the widely-held Welsh historiography in which the contribution of the landed classes is marginalized in favour of the success of radical liberalism and nonconformity. This account of nineteenth-century Carmarthenshire emphasizes the social and political dominance of the Anglican landowning nobility and gentry for much of the period. The book explores the nature and public roles of a governing elite, arguing that their influence was not simply a function of their members' wealth or their control of local government and the administration of the law, but had a vital ideological dimension in the aristocracy's paternalistic ethic, which found powerful and practical expression in the ‘moral economy’ of the landed estate. The clear and vigorous narrative is underpinned by detailed analytical chapters on agriculture and rural society, the administration of law and local government, the evolving patterns of electoral politics, and the vicissitudes and advances of the Church. Frequent references to other Welsh counties and to England show how this local study has much wider interest and implications than its immediate setting. The book argues for a re-evaluation of the social, political, and cultural contributions of the Anglican aristocracy to the making of a Welsh identity in the nineteenth century.
Stephen Howe
- Published in print:
- 1993
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198204237
- eISBN:
- 9780191676178
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198204237.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Modern History
This book studies British anticolonialism, an offshoot of a massive global upsurge of sentiment which has dominated much of the history of the 20th century. This book ...
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This book studies British anticolonialism, an offshoot of a massive global upsurge of sentiment which has dominated much of the history of the 20th century. This book surveys the attitudes and activities relating to colonial issues of British critics of Empire during the years of decolonisation. It also evaluates the changing ways in which, arising out of the experience of Empire and decolonisation, more general ideas about imperialism, nationalism, and underdevelopment were developed during these years. The book's discussion encompasses both the left wing of the Labour Party and groups outside it: in the Communist Party, other independent left-wing groups, and single-issue campaigns. The book has contemporary relevance, for British reactions to more late 20th-century events — the Falklands and Gulf Wars, race relations, South African apartheid — cannot fully be understood except in the context of the experience of decolonisation and the legacy of Empire.Less
This book studies British anticolonialism, an offshoot of a massive global upsurge of sentiment which has dominated much of the history of the 20th century. This book surveys the attitudes and activities relating to colonial issues of British critics of Empire during the years of decolonisation. It also evaluates the changing ways in which, arising out of the experience of Empire and decolonisation, more general ideas about imperialism, nationalism, and underdevelopment were developed during these years. The book's discussion encompasses both the left wing of the Labour Party and groups outside it: in the Communist Party, other independent left-wing groups, and single-issue campaigns. The book has contemporary relevance, for British reactions to more late 20th-century events — the Falklands and Gulf Wars, race relations, South African apartheid — cannot fully be understood except in the context of the experience of decolonisation and the legacy of Empire.
G. A. Bremner (ed.)
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- October 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780198713326
- eISBN:
- 9780191781766
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198713326.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Modern History, Cultural History
The built environment is important to how we experience and negotiate our daily lives, both past and present. In the post-colonial world today, buildings, monuments, parks, streets, avenues, entire ...
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The built environment is important to how we experience and negotiate our daily lives, both past and present. In the post-colonial world today, buildings, monuments, parks, streets, avenues, entire cities even, remain as witness to Britain’s once impressive if troubled imperial past. This volume provides the first comprehensive overview of the architectural and urban transformations that took place across the British empire between the seventeenth and mid-twentieth centuries. With extensive chronological and regional coverage, by leading scholars in the field, this volume will quickly become a seminal text for those who study, teach, and research the relationship between empire and the built environment in the British context. It provides an up-to-date account of past and current historiographical approaches toward the study of British imperial and colonial architecture and urbanism, and will prove equally useful to those who study architecture and urbanism in other European imperial and transnational contexts. Divided in two main sections, over twelve chapters, the first part of the volume deals with overarching thematic issues, including building typologies, major genres and periods of activity, networks of expertise and the transmission of ideas, the intersection between planning and politics, as well as the architectural impact of empire on Britain itself. The second section builds on the first by discussing these themes in relation to specific geographical regions, teasing out the variations and continuities observable in context, both practical and theoretical. In addition to being fully referenced, each chapter includes a select bibliography of key scholarly sources.Less
The built environment is important to how we experience and negotiate our daily lives, both past and present. In the post-colonial world today, buildings, monuments, parks, streets, avenues, entire cities even, remain as witness to Britain’s once impressive if troubled imperial past. This volume provides the first comprehensive overview of the architectural and urban transformations that took place across the British empire between the seventeenth and mid-twentieth centuries. With extensive chronological and regional coverage, by leading scholars in the field, this volume will quickly become a seminal text for those who study, teach, and research the relationship between empire and the built environment in the British context. It provides an up-to-date account of past and current historiographical approaches toward the study of British imperial and colonial architecture and urbanism, and will prove equally useful to those who study architecture and urbanism in other European imperial and transnational contexts. Divided in two main sections, over twelve chapters, the first part of the volume deals with overarching thematic issues, including building typologies, major genres and periods of activity, networks of expertise and the transmission of ideas, the intersection between planning and politics, as well as the architectural impact of empire on Britain itself. The second section builds on the first by discussing these themes in relation to specific geographical regions, teasing out the variations and continuities observable in context, both practical and theoretical. In addition to being fully referenced, each chapter includes a select bibliography of key scholarly sources.
Peter Mandler
- Published in print:
- 1990
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198217817
- eISBN:
- 9780191678288
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198217817.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Modern History
This book challenges the view that there was a smooth and inevitable progression towards liberalism in early nineteenth-century England. It examines the argument used by the high Whigs that the ...
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This book challenges the view that there was a smooth and inevitable progression towards liberalism in early nineteenth-century England. It examines the argument used by the high Whigs that the landed aristocracy still had a positive contribution to make to the welfare of the people. This argument came under scrutiny as the laissez-faire state met with serious criticism in the 1830s and 1840s, when the majority of people proved unwilling to accept the ‘compromise’ forged between the middle classes and other sections of the landed elite, and mass movements for political and social reform proliferated. The Whigs' readiness to embrace these pressures kept them in power for sixteen of the twenty-two years between 1830 and 1852, and allowed them to serve as the midwives of the ‘Victorian origins of the welfare state’. The book looks at the high aristocracy at the peak of its wealth and power, and analyses how their rejection of middle-class manners helped them to govern Britain in two troubled decades of social unrest.Less
This book challenges the view that there was a smooth and inevitable progression towards liberalism in early nineteenth-century England. It examines the argument used by the high Whigs that the landed aristocracy still had a positive contribution to make to the welfare of the people. This argument came under scrutiny as the laissez-faire state met with serious criticism in the 1830s and 1840s, when the majority of people proved unwilling to accept the ‘compromise’ forged between the middle classes and other sections of the landed elite, and mass movements for political and social reform proliferated. The Whigs' readiness to embrace these pressures kept them in power for sixteen of the twenty-two years between 1830 and 1852, and allowed them to serve as the midwives of the ‘Victorian origins of the welfare state’. The book looks at the high aristocracy at the peak of its wealth and power, and analyses how their rejection of middle-class manners helped them to govern Britain in two troubled decades of social unrest.
K. D. Reynolds
- Published in print:
- 1998
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198207276
- eISBN:
- 9780191677601
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198207276.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Modern History
This is a study of gender and power in Victorian Britain. It examines the contribution made by women to the public culture of the British aristocracy in the 19th century. It challenges the view that ...
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This is a study of gender and power in Victorian Britain. It examines the contribution made by women to the public culture of the British aristocracy in the 19th century. It challenges the view that power and authority were predominantly masculine attributes and shows that a partnership of authority between men and women was integral to aristocratic life. The book is thus an important addition to the debate on ‘separate spheres’. The book explores the roles of aristocratic women in estate management, patronage of churches and schools, and in caring for the poor and other dependants. It shows how women were at the heart of the local communities and institutions on which aristocratic power was based. The book goes on to discuss the realm of national politics, analysing women's participation in the electoral process, in Westminster-based political life, and at Queen Victoria's court.Less
This is a study of gender and power in Victorian Britain. It examines the contribution made by women to the public culture of the British aristocracy in the 19th century. It challenges the view that power and authority were predominantly masculine attributes and shows that a partnership of authority between men and women was integral to aristocratic life. The book is thus an important addition to the debate on ‘separate spheres’. The book explores the roles of aristocratic women in estate management, patronage of churches and schools, and in caring for the poor and other dependants. It shows how women were at the heart of the local communities and institutions on which aristocratic power was based. The book goes on to discuss the realm of national politics, analysing women's participation in the electoral process, in Westminster-based political life, and at Queen Victoria's court.
David French
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199548231
- eISBN:
- 9780191739224
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199548231.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Modern History, Military History
The veterans of the Fourteenth Army who fought in Burma between 1942 and 1945 called themselves ‘the forgotten army’. But that appellation could equally well be applied to the whole of the British ...
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The veterans of the Fourteenth Army who fought in Burma between 1942 and 1945 called themselves ‘the forgotten army’. But that appellation could equally well be applied to the whole of the British army after 1945. Histories of Britain's post‐war defence policy have usually focused on how and why Britain acquired a nuclear deterrent. This book takes a new look at it by placing the army centre‐stage. Drawing on archival sources that have hardly been used by historians, it shows how British governments tried to create an army that would enable them to maintain their position as a major world power at a time when their economy struggled to foot the bill. The result was a growing mismatch between the military resources that the government thought it could afford on the one hand, and a long list of overseas commitments, in Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and the Far East, that it was reluctant to surrender. The result was that the British created a Potemkin army, a force that had an outwardly impressive facade, but that in reality had only very limited war‐fighting capabilities.Less
The veterans of the Fourteenth Army who fought in Burma between 1942 and 1945 called themselves ‘the forgotten army’. But that appellation could equally well be applied to the whole of the British army after 1945. Histories of Britain's post‐war defence policy have usually focused on how and why Britain acquired a nuclear deterrent. This book takes a new look at it by placing the army centre‐stage. Drawing on archival sources that have hardly been used by historians, it shows how British governments tried to create an army that would enable them to maintain their position as a major world power at a time when their economy struggled to foot the bill. The result was a growing mismatch between the military resources that the government thought it could afford on the one hand, and a long list of overseas commitments, in Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and the Far East, that it was reluctant to surrender. The result was that the British created a Potemkin army, a force that had an outwardly impressive facade, but that in reality had only very limited war‐fighting capabilities.
Haia Shpayer-Makov
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- March 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780199577408
- eISBN:
- 9780191804465
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:osobl/9780199577408.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Modern History
The figure of the detective has long excited the imagination of the wider public, and the English police detective has been a special focus of attention in both print and visual media. Yet, while ...
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The figure of the detective has long excited the imagination of the wider public, and the English police detective has been a special focus of attention in both print and visual media. Yet, while much has been written in the last three decades about the history of uniformed policemen in England, no similar work has focused on police detectives. This book redresses this by exploring the diverse and often arcane world of English police detectives during the formative period of their profession, from 1842 until the First World War, with special emphasis on the famed detective branch established at Scotland Yard. The book starts by illuminating the detectives' socio-economic background, how and why they became detectives, their working conditions, the differences between them and uniformed policemen, and their relations with the wider community. It then goes on to trace the factors that shaped their changing public image, from the embodiment of ‘un-English’ values to plebeian knights in armour, investigating the complex and symbiotic exchange between detectives and journalists, and analysing their image as it unfolded in the press, in literature, and in their own memoirs.Less
The figure of the detective has long excited the imagination of the wider public, and the English police detective has been a special focus of attention in both print and visual media. Yet, while much has been written in the last three decades about the history of uniformed policemen in England, no similar work has focused on police detectives. This book redresses this by exploring the diverse and often arcane world of English police detectives during the formative period of their profession, from 1842 until the First World War, with special emphasis on the famed detective branch established at Scotland Yard. The book starts by illuminating the detectives' socio-economic background, how and why they became detectives, their working conditions, the differences between them and uniformed policemen, and their relations with the wider community. It then goes on to trace the factors that shaped their changing public image, from the embodiment of ‘un-English’ values to plebeian knights in armour, investigating the complex and symbiotic exchange between detectives and journalists, and analysing their image as it unfolded in the press, in literature, and in their own memoirs.
C. Y. Ferdinand
- Published in print:
- 1997
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198206521
- eISBN:
- 9780191677199
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198206521.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Modern History
This is a study of the English provincial newspaper and book trades in the eighteenth century. The book uses the first thoroughgoing study of the Salisbury Journal and its competitors to reveal how ...
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This is a study of the English provincial newspaper and book trades in the eighteenth century. The book uses the first thoroughgoing study of the Salisbury Journal and its competitors to reveal how country newspapers worked within and influenced the developing information systems of a region. The detailed revelations of a community's social, economic, literary, and cultural interests extend well beyond Salisbury to the surrounding counties and to London. A hitherto hidden commercial infrastructure shows the interdependent relationship between the writers and makers of newspapers, the principal members of the London book trade, and the new market for the printed word. Behind these news networks was the entrepreneurial spirit of Benjamin Collins, a figure of national importance, who set up Salisbury's first bank, established newspapers in London and the provinces, wrote children's books with John Newbery, and whose publishing interests brought him into contact with the literary and commercial life of London.Less
This is a study of the English provincial newspaper and book trades in the eighteenth century. The book uses the first thoroughgoing study of the Salisbury Journal and its competitors to reveal how country newspapers worked within and influenced the developing information systems of a region. The detailed revelations of a community's social, economic, literary, and cultural interests extend well beyond Salisbury to the surrounding counties and to London. A hitherto hidden commercial infrastructure shows the interdependent relationship between the writers and makers of newspapers, the principal members of the London book trade, and the new market for the printed word. Behind these news networks was the entrepreneurial spirit of Benjamin Collins, a figure of national importance, who set up Salisbury's first bank, established newspapers in London and the provinces, wrote children's books with John Newbery, and whose publishing interests brought him into contact with the literary and commercial life of London.
F. Rosen
- Published in print:
- 1992
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198200789
- eISBN:
- 9780191674778
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198200789.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Modern History, History of Ideas
This book explores the connection between Jeremy Bentham and Lord Byron forged by the Greek struggle for independence. It focuses on the activities of the London Greek Committee, supposedly founded ...
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This book explores the connection between Jeremy Bentham and Lord Byron forged by the Greek struggle for independence. It focuses on the activities of the London Greek Committee, supposedly founded by disciples of Bentham, which mounted the expedition on which Lord Byron ultimately met his death in Greece. This study provides a new assessment of British philhellenism, and examines the relationship between Bentham's theory of constitutional government and the emerging liberalism of the 1820s. It breaks new ground in the history of political ideas and culture in the early 19th century. It advances new interpretations, based on recently published texts and manuscript sources, of the development of constitutional theory from John Locke and Montesquieu, the conflicting strands of liberalism in the 1820s, and the response in Britain to strong claims for national self-determination in the Mediterranean basin. The book sets out to distinguish between Bentham's theory and the ideological context against which it is usually interpreted. The result is a contribution to current debates over method in the study of political ideas and to the study of the history of political thought.Less
This book explores the connection between Jeremy Bentham and Lord Byron forged by the Greek struggle for independence. It focuses on the activities of the London Greek Committee, supposedly founded by disciples of Bentham, which mounted the expedition on which Lord Byron ultimately met his death in Greece. This study provides a new assessment of British philhellenism, and examines the relationship between Bentham's theory of constitutional government and the emerging liberalism of the 1820s. It breaks new ground in the history of political ideas and culture in the early 19th century. It advances new interpretations, based on recently published texts and manuscript sources, of the development of constitutional theory from John Locke and Montesquieu, the conflicting strands of liberalism in the 1820s, and the response in Britain to strong claims for national self-determination in the Mediterranean basin. The book sets out to distinguish between Bentham's theory and the ideological context against which it is usually interpreted. The result is a contribution to current debates over method in the study of political ideas and to the study of the history of political thought.
D. M. Leeson
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199598991
- eISBN:
- 9780191730597
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199598991.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Modern History, Military History
This is the story of the Black and Tans and Auxiliaries — the most notorious police forces in the history of the British Isles. During the Irish War of Independence (1920–1), the British government ...
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This is the story of the Black and Tans and Auxiliaries — the most notorious police forces in the history of the British Isles. During the Irish War of Independence (1920–1), the British government recruited thousands of ex-soldiers to serve as constables in the Royal Irish Constabulary — the Black and Tans — while also raising a paramilitary raiding force of ex-officers — the Auxiliary Division. From the summer of 1920 to the summer of 1921, these forces became the focus of bitter controversy. As the struggle for Irish independence intensified, the police responded to ambushes and assassinations by the guerrillas with reprisals and extrajudicial killings. Prisoners and suspects were abused and shot, the homes and shops of their families and supporters were burned, and the British government was accused of imposing a reign of terror on Ireland. This book, based on extensive archival research, is the first serious study of the Black and Tans and Auxiliaries and the part they played in the Irish War of Independence. It examines the organization and recruitment of the British police, the social origins of police recruits, and the conditions in which they lived and worked, along with their conduct and misconduct once they joined the force, and their experiences and states of mind. For the first time, it tells the story of the Irish conflict from the police perspective, while casting new light on the British government’s responsibility for reprisals, the problems of using police to combat insurgents, and the causes of atrocities in revolutionary wars.Less
This is the story of the Black and Tans and Auxiliaries — the most notorious police forces in the history of the British Isles. During the Irish War of Independence (1920–1), the British government recruited thousands of ex-soldiers to serve as constables in the Royal Irish Constabulary — the Black and Tans — while also raising a paramilitary raiding force of ex-officers — the Auxiliary Division. From the summer of 1920 to the summer of 1921, these forces became the focus of bitter controversy. As the struggle for Irish independence intensified, the police responded to ambushes and assassinations by the guerrillas with reprisals and extrajudicial killings. Prisoners and suspects were abused and shot, the homes and shops of their families and supporters were burned, and the British government was accused of imposing a reign of terror on Ireland. This book, based on extensive archival research, is the first serious study of the Black and Tans and Auxiliaries and the part they played in the Irish War of Independence. It examines the organization and recruitment of the British police, the social origins of police recruits, and the conditions in which they lived and worked, along with their conduct and misconduct once they joined the force, and their experiences and states of mind. For the first time, it tells the story of the Irish conflict from the police perspective, while casting new light on the British government’s responsibility for reprisals, the problems of using police to combat insurgents, and the causes of atrocities in revolutionary wars.
Richard H. Trainor
- Published in print:
- 1993
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198203551
- eISBN:
- 9780191675850
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198203551.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Modern History
This book is a study of the people who ran Victorian industrial towns. It also examines the institutions, policies, rituals, and networks these urban elites deployed to cope with urban growth, social ...
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This book is a study of the people who ran Victorian industrial towns. It also examines the institutions, policies, rituals, and networks these urban elites deployed to cope with urban growth, social unrest, and relative economic decline. Concentrating on a particularly grimy district of the industrial Midlands, the book demonstrates the surprisingly great resources, coherence, sophistication, and impact of the area's mainly middle class leaders, who were well linked to regional and national power centres. This book's analysis suggests the need to re-examine the influential view that Victorian Britain's social development was dominated by London and by land, the professions, and finance. Instead the book indicates the complex give-and-take between the metropolis and its notables, on the one hand, and the industrial provinces and their leaders, on the other.Less
This book is a study of the people who ran Victorian industrial towns. It also examines the institutions, policies, rituals, and networks these urban elites deployed to cope with urban growth, social unrest, and relative economic decline. Concentrating on a particularly grimy district of the industrial Midlands, the book demonstrates the surprisingly great resources, coherence, sophistication, and impact of the area's mainly middle class leaders, who were well linked to regional and national power centres. This book's analysis suggests the need to re-examine the influential view that Victorian Britain's social development was dominated by London and by land, the professions, and finance. Instead the book indicates the complex give-and-take between the metropolis and its notables, on the one hand, and the industrial provinces and their leaders, on the other.
Mark Roodhouse
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- May 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780199588459
- eISBN:
- 9780191747564
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199588459.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Modern History, Cultural History
Due to rationing and price control, Britain’s underground economy experienced a mid-century boom during the 1940s and early 1950s as producers, traders, and professional criminals helped consumers to ...
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Due to rationing and price control, Britain’s underground economy experienced a mid-century boom during the 1940s and early 1950s as producers, traders, and professional criminals helped consumers to get ‘a little bit extra’ ‘on the side’, ‘from under the counter’, or ‘off the back of a lorry’. And yet widespread evasion of regulations designed to ensure ‘fair shares for all’ did not undermine the austerity policies that characterized those years. This book draws upon a wide range of source material, including recently declassified documents, to argue that all these little bits did not amount to a lot because Britons showed self-restraint in their illegal dealings. The means, motives, and opportunities for evasion were not lacking. The shortages were real and felt, regulations were not watertight, and enforcement was haphazard. Fairness, not patriotism and respect for the law, is the key to understanding this self-restraint. By invoking popular notions of a fair price, a fair profit, and a fair share, government rhetoric stymied black marketeering as would-be evaders had to justify their offences to themselves and others in terms of getting their fair share at no one else’s expense. The book emphasizes the importance of fairness to those seeking a richer understanding of economic life in modern Britain, and reminds us that all trade is fair trade and all consumers are ethical consumers, at least according to their own lights. We just need to discover what those lights are.Less
Due to rationing and price control, Britain’s underground economy experienced a mid-century boom during the 1940s and early 1950s as producers, traders, and professional criminals helped consumers to get ‘a little bit extra’ ‘on the side’, ‘from under the counter’, or ‘off the back of a lorry’. And yet widespread evasion of regulations designed to ensure ‘fair shares for all’ did not undermine the austerity policies that characterized those years. This book draws upon a wide range of source material, including recently declassified documents, to argue that all these little bits did not amount to a lot because Britons showed self-restraint in their illegal dealings. The means, motives, and opportunities for evasion were not lacking. The shortages were real and felt, regulations were not watertight, and enforcement was haphazard. Fairness, not patriotism and respect for the law, is the key to understanding this self-restraint. By invoking popular notions of a fair price, a fair profit, and a fair share, government rhetoric stymied black marketeering as would-be evaders had to justify their offences to themselves and others in terms of getting their fair share at no one else’s expense. The book emphasizes the importance of fairness to those seeking a richer understanding of economic life in modern Britain, and reminds us that all trade is fair trade and all consumers are ethical consumers, at least according to their own lights. We just need to discover what those lights are.
Geoffrey G. Field
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199604111
- eISBN:
- 9780191731686
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199604111.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Modern History, Political History
Blood, Sweat, and Toil is the first major history of the British working class in the Second World War. The book integrates social, political, and labour history and reflects the most ...
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Blood, Sweat, and Toil is the first major history of the British working class in the Second World War. The book integrates social, political, and labour history and reflects the most recent scholarship and debates on social class, gender, and the forging of identities. It examines the war's impact on workers in the varied contexts of the family, military service, the workplace, local communities and the nation. Previous studies of the Home Front have analyzed the lives of civilians, but they have neglected the importance of social class in defining popular experience and its centrality in public attitudes, official policy, and the politics of the war years. Contrary to accounts that view the war as eroding class divisions and creating a new sense of social unity in Britain, this book argues that the 1940s was a crucial decade in which the deeply fragmented working class of the interwar decades was ‘remade’, achieving new collective status, power, and solidarity. It criticizes recent revisionist scholarship that has downplayed the significance of class in British society. Extensively researched, using official documents, diaries and letters, and the records of trade unions and numerous other institutions, the book traces the rapid growth of trade unionism, joint consultation, and strike actions in the war years. It also analyses the mobilization of women into factories and the uniformed services and the lives of men conscripted into the army, showing how these experiences shaped their social attitudes and aspirations. Using opinion polls and other evidence the book traces the evolution of popular political attitudes from the evacuation of 1939 and the desperate months of late 1940 to the election of 1945, opposing recent claims that the electorate was indifferent or apathetic at the war's end, but also eschewing blanket assumptions about popular radicalization. Labour was an active agent in fashioning itself as both a national progressive party and the representative of working-class interests in 1945; far from a mere passive beneficiary of anti-Tory feeling, it gave organizational form to the idealism and the demand for significant change that the war had generated.Less
Blood, Sweat, and Toil is the first major history of the British working class in the Second World War. The book integrates social, political, and labour history and reflects the most recent scholarship and debates on social class, gender, and the forging of identities. It examines the war's impact on workers in the varied contexts of the family, military service, the workplace, local communities and the nation. Previous studies of the Home Front have analyzed the lives of civilians, but they have neglected the importance of social class in defining popular experience and its centrality in public attitudes, official policy, and the politics of the war years. Contrary to accounts that view the war as eroding class divisions and creating a new sense of social unity in Britain, this book argues that the 1940s was a crucial decade in which the deeply fragmented working class of the interwar decades was ‘remade’, achieving new collective status, power, and solidarity. It criticizes recent revisionist scholarship that has downplayed the significance of class in British society. Extensively researched, using official documents, diaries and letters, and the records of trade unions and numerous other institutions, the book traces the rapid growth of trade unionism, joint consultation, and strike actions in the war years. It also analyses the mobilization of women into factories and the uniformed services and the lives of men conscripted into the army, showing how these experiences shaped their social attitudes and aspirations. Using opinion polls and other evidence the book traces the evolution of popular political attitudes from the evacuation of 1939 and the desperate months of late 1940 to the election of 1945, opposing recent claims that the electorate was indifferent or apathetic at the war's end, but also eschewing blanket assumptions about popular radicalization. Labour was an active agent in fashioning itself as both a national progressive party and the representative of working-class interests in 1945; far from a mere passive beneficiary of anti-Tory feeling, it gave organizational form to the idealism and the demand for significant change that the war had generated.
James Taylor
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- May 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780199695799
- eISBN:
- 9780191749520
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199695799.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Modern History, Economic History
Should businessmen who commit fraud go to prison? This question has been asked repeatedly since 2008; it was also raised in nineteenth-century Britain, when the spread of corporate capitalism created ...
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Should businessmen who commit fraud go to prison? This question has been asked repeatedly since 2008; it was also raised in nineteenth-century Britain, when the spread of corporate capitalism created enormous new opportunities for dishonesty. Historians have presented Victorian Britain as a haven for white-collar criminals, beneficiaries of a prejudiced criminal justice system which only dealt harshly with offences by the poor. This book challenges these beliefs. Based on an unparalleled sample of legal cases—many examined here for the first time—it presents a radical new interpretation of the relationship between capitalism and the law. Initially, there were no criminal sanctions against publishing false prospectuses, concealing losses in balance sheets, and even misappropriating company money. But parliament became convinced of the need to criminalize these practices to protect the culture of stock market investment on which mid-Victorian prosperity increasingly rested. Persuading judges to play along was harder, with many invoking the principle of caveat emptor to exonerate defendants. But by the end of the century, successful prosecutions of company executives were commonplace. These trials performed multiple functions. They stabilized confidence in times of crisis. They dramatized the class blindness of the law. And they were increasingly seen as essential as faith in a self-regulating economy ebbed. The criminalization of fraud therefore has far-reaching implications for our understanding of nineteenth-century Britain. It also has relevance today in light of the ongoing economic crisis and the issues it raises regarding business ethics and the role of the state.Less
Should businessmen who commit fraud go to prison? This question has been asked repeatedly since 2008; it was also raised in nineteenth-century Britain, when the spread of corporate capitalism created enormous new opportunities for dishonesty. Historians have presented Victorian Britain as a haven for white-collar criminals, beneficiaries of a prejudiced criminal justice system which only dealt harshly with offences by the poor. This book challenges these beliefs. Based on an unparalleled sample of legal cases—many examined here for the first time—it presents a radical new interpretation of the relationship between capitalism and the law. Initially, there were no criminal sanctions against publishing false prospectuses, concealing losses in balance sheets, and even misappropriating company money. But parliament became convinced of the need to criminalize these practices to protect the culture of stock market investment on which mid-Victorian prosperity increasingly rested. Persuading judges to play along was harder, with many invoking the principle of caveat emptor to exonerate defendants. But by the end of the century, successful prosecutions of company executives were commonplace. These trials performed multiple functions. They stabilized confidence in times of crisis. They dramatized the class blindness of the law. And they were increasingly seen as essential as faith in a self-regulating economy ebbed. The criminalization of fraud therefore has far-reaching implications for our understanding of nineteenth-century Britain. It also has relevance today in light of the ongoing economic crisis and the issues it raises regarding business ethics and the role of the state.